


Message Received

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Doctor and Lizard space dads [6]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Kidfic, M/M, Married garashir, Post canon, vaguely implied kira/ezri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 09:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15927377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: Julian's stepson, who he's never met, keeps sending him pictures of Garak talking to attractive Cardassian men, and captioning them as 'New stepfather?' - he's unsure if it's a game or cry for attention, or if he should actually be worried that Garak is getting tired of waiting for him and that his stepson hates him.-Julian’s personal padd dinged from where he’d placed it on Ezri’s table, and he internally groaned. Ezri noticed his good mood fading as he reluctantly eyed the screen, and asked, “Another message from your stepson?”“Honestly, Ezri, these pictures make me wonder if Tolan is even my stepson anymore.” He turned on the screen, and sure enough, a notification that Garak’s messaging address had sent him pictures was there. Since Garak only messaged him in letter format, it meant Tolan had gotten ahold of the device again.





	Message Received

**Author's Note:**

> i just thought it'd be really funny if garak had a son that showed up out of nowhere who decided he Needed to bother Julian as much as possible  
> Julian just wants to be a good father, Tolan wants to make that difficult, Ezri and Kira find it hilarious but pity him

**Message Received**

Julian’s personal padd dinged from where he’d placed it on Ezri’s table, and he internally groaned. Ezri noticed his good mood fading as he reluctantly eyed the screen, and asked, “Another message from your stepson?”

“Honestly, Ezri, these pictures make me wonder if Tolan is even my stepson anymore.” He turned on the screen, and sure enough, a notification that Garak’s messaging address had sent him pictures was there. Since Garak only messaged him in letter format, it meant Tolan had gotten ahold of the device again.

“You know he just likes messing with you. Garak would never cheat on you.” That was true. Tolan was just as much a liar as Garak, and jumped at the chance to confuse Julian as much as possible, even though they’d never personally met. That was probably the reason why Tolan kept up this specific game. He didn’t know anything about the man that his father had enjoined with except for what Garak had told him, and was doing his part in making sure Garak had made the right choice.

That was probably a Cardassian bonding ritual, for a child to try to drive off a new parent, just like how courting couples argued as much as possible. Whenever he was finally approved to go to Cardassia, he would have to prepare to argue with Tolan constantly, he was sure. He didn’t know what the boy liked to debate, but he was bound to share interests with Garak, so it couldn’t be too hard to come up with topics.

He’d have to ask about it in his next letter to Garak, and try to decipher whatever cryptic explanation his husband gave him.

“There’s more than one picture.”

“Must have been a conference.” Sure enough, the first few pictures were of Garak talking to different attractive Cardassian men, standing close to them. Tolan had it angled so it was difficult to see whether or not they were brushing up against each other. He’d perfected that after the first ten or so images. 

“Ah. A stepmother one, that’s rare.” Tolan occasionally sent pictures of Garak talking to women. Out of the 39 pictures Tolan had sent him, and Julian hated that he was keeping count, this was the third woman. Perhaps Tolan was picky about what kind of woman he would want as a mother.

She was attractive, older. Tolan added a note saying that she was nice to him and offered him an enigma tale after scolding him for reading a Federation news report instead of focusing on his education. _State approved, of course. Not like your ridiculous Terran novels that Yadik tells me about._

“Julian, does he hate you or something?”

“I have no idea. Garak says he’s excited to meet me. This might be some sort of game. Ah- he took pictures of the same man twice. He hasn’t done that before.” In the first image, an older man was talking to Garak, laughing at something Garak was saying. _New stepfather?_ In the next, Tolan had discreetly taken the picture from his side, to show that the man, number 37, was sitting next to him and explaining something about a kotra board. Garak was sitting across from them, smiling. _Gul Retall helped me play kotra against Yadik. We lost, of course. Can you play kotra?_

“Can you?”

“I’ve never tried it. God, Tolan probably wants a Cardassian stepfather. I don’t think he’s ever met a human in his life.” It’d been more than a surprise when Garak had messaged him saying that he’d found his long lost son on Cardassia Prime, who had escaped an attempt on his life by his grandfather, or so Tolan said. They’d stumbled upon each other by chance, Garak had told him in a letter, and he’d taken the boy in.

Unfortunately for Julian, Tolan knew nothing but Cardassia, and that would make it difficult for the boy to ever trust him or accept him as family.

“You’ll just have to do your best. Hey, did Garak ever mention who his other parent was?”

“No. Probably another agent of the Obsidian Order. Though, Tolan is pretty tall and slim, so maybe a soldier?” Garak had sent him a single picture in all of his messages, one of Tolan standing next to him. The teenager was taller than him, willowy compared to his solidly built father. Despite the difference in physique, Tolan looked very much like a younger version of Garak.

Ezri scrolled down, wanting to see the other pictures. “Oh, who’s that?”

The rest of the pictures were of one other person, some man with long white hair and glasses. He looked so different from all the other Cardassians Tolan had photographed. Even the caption was different. _Stepfather._

The pictures kept going. Garak arguing with the man, sitting and talking to him, the man scanning him with a medical tricorder. Ezri laughed at one where the man was whacking Garak with some rolled up paper. They were all different days, Garak in different outfits.

Garak had mentioned making friends with a doctor, Kelas Parmak. Was this him? How often did they spend time together?

Tolan had taken a picture of himself sitting with the doctor, both of them smiling at the camera. _Kelas says hello!_ The pictures ended there. Julian was reeling. Garak hadn’t mentioned that Parmak was close to him, and he definitely hadn’t told him how he was close enough that Tolan called him by his first name. He knew Garak would never be unfaithful, but he was a bit jealous, if he had to admit it. He hadn’t seen his husband in months, and now a different doctor was getting to.

Another message popped up, this one a video. Ezri clicked it for him, knowing the pictures were stressing him. It immediately started playing, a continuation of the last picture. “ _Hello, Doctor Bashir!_ ” Julian didn’t even get to be called by his first name. He tried not to let it bother him. Garak still referred to him as Doctor instead of by name.

Tolan’s voice sounded very much like Garak’s, and he only spoke kardasi. “ _Doctor Parmak and I wanted to send you this video, because we are unsure of when we will get to meet you in person. Yadik says you are so late because of how slow the Federation is with paperwork, but I have to wonder if you really want to come at all. Perhaps Yadik has been lying to me about his enjoinment with you. After all, you never respond to my messages._ ”

Was it all just a cry for attention? Parmak gave Tolan an awkward smile, putting a hand on his arm. “ _Tolan, I’m sure Doctor Bashir is eager to come here. And Elim is enjoined to him, I saw all the paperwork myself, and you know he’s always wearing that odd ring._ ”

“ _It’s just strange that it’s taking so long. Maybe he’s changed his mind and Yadik doesn’t want to let me down. I was truly looking forward to meeting him, but if all he’s going to do is shun me, I suppose I won’t look forward to it at all._ ” Tolan looked away from the camera, pouting. Drama ran in the family, it seemed. 

Parmak seemed genuinely concerned, though, so perhaps Tolan truly did think he was being rejected. “ _He’s a doctor. I’m sure he’s just too busy to send you a reply. He always responds to Elim’s messages, doesn’t he?_ ”

“ _He barely asks about me, Kelas._ ” Eyeing the camera, he asked, “ _Why don’t you ask Yadik about me more often, Doctor? It can’t be too hard to add that to your letters- ‘My dearest Elim, how is Tolan doing? Please wish him well for me, and tell him I look forward to meeting him.’ That’s not too difficult for a human, is it?_ ”

God, why didn’t he? Was he horribly failing as a stepfather? Was he somehow refusing to accept Tolan into his family by not acknowledging him? Garak always mentioned him in his letters, so Julian had never felt a need to ask, though he was sure he’d written multiple times that he was eager to meet him. Had Tolan read them? He must have, if he had access to Garak’s padd.

He resolved to make it a major part of his next letter to Garak to ask about Tolan and to try to learn Cardassian custom about accepting a stepchild.

Parmak sighed, and Tolan waited to see if he had anything to add before continuing, “ _Anyways, Doctor, Kelas and I were just sending this to see if you would send Yadik an estimate on when you would be joining us on Cardassia. Kelas is eager to make your acquaintance, and looks forward to working with you. Yadik misses you terribly, and I have resorted to pretending to have never read nor appreciated_ The Never-Ending Sacrifice _to distract him from you._ ”

“ _Elim tells me you weren’t fond of the book. I agree with you. It’s rather dull._ ” Julian was so glad to hear a Cardassian say so. Garak had made it seem like a horrible sin to criticize his favorite novel.

Tolan looked stricken. He got up, taking the padd, still recording, with him. “ _Yadik! Yadik, Kelas has something horrible to tell you-_ ”

Ezri huffed a laugh at that. Julian internally groaned. Tolan really was just as dramatic as Garak.

“ _Tolan, wait, don’t tell Elim...!_ ”

Tolan rounded a corner and went through a doorway. The camera was still facing him, but Garak’s voice asked, “ _What’s wrong, my dear?_ ”

“ _Kelas told me something terrible._ ”

“ _I thought you two were talking about medicine. What could he have said to upset you?_ ”

“ _He told me_ The Never-Ending Sacrifice _was a horrible book, just like your husband did._ ” Your husband. He didn’t even use his name when talking about him with his father. Julian really couldn’t tell if this was genuine dislike or an elaborate game anymore.

“ _Doctors have no sense of culture, Tolan. Do not let them sway your opinion of the book before you finish it._ ” Garak put his hands on Tolan’s shoulders. “ _They are trying to discourage you from enjoying fine literature._ ”

“ _Oh, I’ve read the book before. I just wanted to distract you from your husband’s absence._ ” That had to be a pointed jab at him, considering Garak had no idea he was recording. Julian wished Tolan would turn the padd’s camera so he could see Garak, but he’d have to settle for just his hands.

“ _That’s very sweet of you, my dear, but entirely unnecessary._ ” God, Tolan had to hate him. Why else would he send him this? He had to know exactly what he was doing by admitting that only now to make Garak say something that could be interpreted as ‘I don’t miss him that much.’ “ _Doctor Bashir will arrive, and we have to be prepared to convince him that he is wrong about the novel. For now, I must tell Kelas that he is wrong._ ”

The hands went away, and Tolan followed Garak back to the other room, a smirk on his face. 

“ _Elim-_ ”

“ _I invite you into my home, let you give advice and lessons to my son-_ ”

“ _It’s a dull book!_ ”

“The Never Ending-Sacrifice _is the greatest Cardassian novel ever written-_ ”

“ _Doctor Bashir was entirely correct in his assessment of the novel-_ ”

“ _-and it is outrageous, truly, to think I befriended yet another man with no class-_ ”

Tolan looked delighted. He glanced down at the camera, and his mouth formed a little ‘o.’ He tapped the padd, and the camera shifted. It was aimed at the floor, so Tolan lifted it.

Garak and Parmak were standing close to each other as they bickered, and Julian was so glad to see a video of his husband. It was much better seeing a video of him at home than images of him involved in politics. Hearing him bicker with someone was nice, even if it made him jealous that he wasn’t the one Garak was arguing with.

They went back and forth, Garak insisting that the novel was the finest piece of literature ever written, Parmak maintaining that he found it dull and had never been a fan of repetitive epics. Tolan’s arms shook with quiet laughter as he filmed them.

“ _You are just as infuriating as Doctor Bashir!_ ”

“ _Speaking of your husband, Yadik,_ ” Tolan interrupted, “ _would you like to say something to him? I’m sending him a video from us. I have already said my part._ ”

Garak huffed, giving Parmak a glare that clearly meant ‘we will continue this later.’ He stepped over so that Parmak was no longer in the picture, and Tolan aimed the camera at him. 

“ _You know I dislike being filmed, my dear._ ”

“ _Oh, but your husband hasn’t seen you in so long. He’ll be delighted._ ”

“ _I suppose... Is it on?_ ”

“ _Yes._ ”

“ _Hello, my dear. I will be sending you another letter soon, but Tolan decided to send you a video instead._ ”

“I can’t believe he didn’t notice that Tolan was recording,” Ezri said, her voice blocking out Garak’s next sentence. He would have to rewatch it later. “I mean, he’s been holding a padd the entire time.”

“ _-really quite excited to see you. Aren’t you, dear?_ ”

“ _Yes, Yadik._ ”

“ _I do hope the Federation has not misplaced your paperwork. Everything is ready for you here on Cardassia, all you need is to finalize your transfer._ ” He smirked. “ _And do hurry, or else I may need to take my colleagues’ advice and settle down with a proper Cardassian. I may have one son already, but Tolan is hardly enough to offer Cardassia for her repopulation efforts._ ”

“ _I promise to find someone and produce lots of badly behaved but well read grandchildren for you and Cardassia, Yadik._ ”

“ _Your stepfather and I look forward to it, my dear._ ”

Maybe he did need to worry about all the pictures Tolan sent him. It was a joke, but Garak wouldn’t have teased him that way if he hadn’t thought about it before. He made a mental note to check on how his transfer files were doing tomorrow.

“ _I would love to tell you more, my dear Doctor, but there is an urgent matter I must attend to._ ” He glanced in Parmak’s direction. “ _So, if you’ll excuse me..._ ”

The video ended there.

“He’s made a friend. I’m proud of him.” Ezri smiled. “But I’d check on those transfer papers, if I were you.”

“I- I’m going to go send a message to Starfleet-”

“I’ll tell you if anything else pops up.”

-

Tolan could only send the messages when he went with Garak into the city, so the video had been recorded, at the very least, yesterday. Garak would be sending a letter in about two days, he figured, so he needed to write and send one before then. After sending a request to the transfer office, he sat down next to Ezri and started typing. She watched, giving some advice, using her memories as a parent and spouse from her past lives to make sure his letter came out alright.

As planned, the bulk of his short letter was about Tolan. He brought up the pictures to confirm that he had the right idea- that Tolan was ensuring he was a good match for his father, and perhaps he wanted attention Julian would be happy to provide as soon as he was on Cardassia. If he wasn’t going to be there very soon, he asked if it was a good idea to send Tolan his own letters, because it seemed letting him read the ones addressed to Garak weren’t enough for him.

At Ezri’s urging, he added a brief section about how he was glad that he’d made a friend like Kelas, and was glad that the both of them were close enough to him that they could call him by his first name.

Once Ezri deemed it satisfactory, he hit send, and laid back.

“Want to watch the video my mother sent me?” Ezri asked, after a long period of silence.

“Sure.”

-

“Colonel, what can I do for you?” Julian was surprised to see Kira walk into the infirmary.

“Sliced my hand while stopping a fight on the promenade.” She held out her hand, revealing a deep and heavily bleeding cut across her palm. It looked like she’d grabbed a knife.

He guided her to sit down on a biobed and grabbed a dermal regenerator. “There’s no serious damage. You’ll be free to use your hand as soon as I’m done.”

“That’s good.” They were quiet as he treated the wound. “Uh... Ezri told me about the messages you’ve been getting from Garak’s son.”

The Dax symbiont held a love for gossip, and Ezri had picked up the habit. Since he had shown her the messages in a casual setting, and not during a therapy session, she was under no obligation to keep it private.

He wasn’t sure how to respond. “Ah...”

“I think you shouldn’t read too much into it. If he’s anything like Garak, this is just some game to rile you up.”

“You’re probably right.”

“When will you be leaving?” She rubbed her hand as he finished, flexing her fingers.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t gotten a response from the office, yet.”

As if on cue, his computer terminal announed, “Doctor Bashir, you have one new priority message.”

“That might be it.” She nodded towards the computer. Julian went to it, and was confused but happy to see that instead of a reply to his request, it was a message from Garak.

He clicked it, and a short letter popped up.

_My dear doctor,_

_After receiving your letter, I confronted Tolan about his behavior. I had no idea he was using my padd to send you such disrespectful messages, and below I have attached a video apology, as I cannot express my regrets adequately through letter format._

What? Julian barely had time to try and absorb that before a video popped up on screen and automatically began playing. It was Garak, frowning at someone off screen. 

“ _Yadik, this is ridiculous- it was a joke!_ ”

“ _It is inexcusable to have shown your stepfather such disrespect. I am appalled. Quiet!_ ” Tolan shut up, going silent. “ _My dear doctor, I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies for Tolan’s behavior. What he has done is most certainly not a part of Cardassian tradition, and he has used my padd without permission. Now, he will apologize._ ”

The video switched to show Tolan standing in the middle of a room, arms crossed. He was frowning. 

“ _Tolan._ ”

“ _Doctor Bashir, I am very sorry for sending you disrespectful messages and manipulating Yadik into saying that he does not miss you by lying about having not read_ The Never-Ending Sacrifice.” He paused, and then huffed. “ _I am also sorry that I made it seem like I hated you. I don’t, and I am truly looking forward to meeting you. I was just entertaining myself, and I understand now that I should have found a different way of doing so._ ”

“ _And?_ ”

“ _What else is there? I apologized for the pictures and video._ ”

“ _You have to apologize for using the padd._ ”

“ _I also am sorry that I used Yadik’s padd for non-educational purposes, and for reading your letters to him without permission. Now, if you would please hurry and come to Cardassia, I’m quite bored of seeing Yadik pine after you-_ ”

“ _That’s good enough, my dear._ ” The video ended.

Kira was staring at him by the end of the video. Julian knew Ezri was going to hear all about this as soon as Kira got back to her post. “Julian, how the hell are you going to survive on Cardassia with the two of them?”

“Believe me, Colonel, I have no idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow/talk to me on Tumblr: @Oblio-k


End file.
